Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to fluid nozzle manipulators. In particular, it relates to an apparatus for remotely holding and maneuvering a high pressure rotary nozzle around an object to be cleaned and in which the nozzle is attached to a very high pressure water source.
State of the Art
Waterblasting nozzles typically are attached to one end of rigid lance which is in turn connected to a high pressure fluid hose. The lance is hand held at its proximal end by a user/operator with its distal end at various positions to clean a surface of an object. Such lances are typically at least 4 feet long and can be as long as 15+feet long for use in some tank applications. The lance permits the user to keep a safe distance from the waterblast jet and back splatter of the jet from the surface being cleaned. However, when operating at pressures on the order of 5-20 kpsi, it is difficult to hand hold such lances. This is because the reaction thrust force on the lance due to the high pressure nozzle spray that the user must counter is significant. With this reaction force being exerted by the nozzle at the distal end of the lance, an operator can have significant difficulty in managing and precisely positioning the nozzle while countering such forces. For hand held lance operations, typically the reaction forces are limited to no more than ⅓ the weight of the operator, and may be even less in slippery conditions. In addition, there are many situations and confined spaces in which such an elongated wand or lance cannot be used. In such confined spaces the use of very high pressure nozzles may not be used. Therefore there is a need for an apparatus that can carry and manipulate such a nozzle in confined spaces and at the same time maintain a stable nozzle positioning platform counteracting nozzle reaction forces. The present disclosure addresses this need.